Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus celebrated the performance of record-breaking man of the match Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as well as a developing style, but cautioned that much work remained to be done despite a sumptuous 67-30 victory over Argentina in Durban.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a hat-trick of tries in a commanding performance, netting 37 points, the most by a Springbok in a Test, as Erasmus’s team went to the top of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship with one match to play.
Erasmus praised his “brilliant” flyhalf, as well as those who had given him the platform in the developing project to create a multiple flexible playing squad.
“What we’re trying to do is not just build some combinations that work, but that all of our combinations work, and I guess that’s starting to click,” said Erasmus, after seeing his team score nine tries to three, for a total of 15 in the past two matches.
Erasmus had to juggle his backline with injuries to Cheslin Kolbe (shoulder), Damian Willemse (hamstring) and Ethan Hooker (ankle) in the second half, which meant the team finished with an entirely reshuffled backline without drawing breath.
“It takes time to swap people in and out and have them play in sync, but we also know how quickly that can change, so we won’t get carried away,” said Erasmus.
“We want to build an understanding within the squad so that when we make changes, it doesn’t affect our play. But we’ve won nothing yet in this Castle Lager Rugby Championship; we’ve had one win and one loss against New Zealand and Australia, and we know how tough Argentina are.
“We’re flying tomorrow and we’re playing at Twickenham next week and we have to win that game or it’s just another missed Rugby Championship.”
“Nobody can disagree that he was brilliant on the day,” said Erasmus.
“What we always say is that you can’t put someone in there and immediately expect them to be world-class. It doesn’t just happen overnight.
“He has grown a little bit against New Zealand, and a little bit against Australia away, and I think he only has 11 caps, or something like that, but I thought Damian de Allende helped him a lot and Damian Willemse played well and Manie came on played well and there were a lot of guys that played well, but no-one can disagree that Sacha was man of the match and did incredible things on the field.
“But in the lead-up to where he was today, there were many mishaps and bad kicking in other games he played. Sometimes you must give guys a chance to build reputation and their skillset at Test match level, and he is definitely doing that; but there’s helluva a lot of people helping him; Manie and Damian, Tony (Brown, assistant coach), Handre (Pollard), everybody.”